The following disclosure relates generally to sports training equipment and, more particularly, to vehicular robotic systems for training players of team sports such as basketball.
Basic skills training for team sports players, especially beginners, often involves personal, one-on-one attention and direction. Players learn and develop important offensive skills when they can play against one or more defensive players. Offensive skills are further developed through practice and repetition, preferably in an environment that is most like the situations encountered in a competitive contest.
The task of providing player training and practice using repetitive drills in game-like situations requires participation by a coach, a trainer, a teammate, or another person with knowledge of the fundamental skills of the game. Devoting such a person to the task of running drills is a continuing challenge because most teams have limited able-bodied personnel and tight practice schedules. For example, coaches and trainers have the skills, but running repetitive drills is not the best use of their coaching talent or their limited time with the entire team. Hence the need for a specialized training dummy in the context of organized practices.
Also, most team sports players benefit from practicing basic skills, such as the jump shot in basketball, and doing so over and over again, on their own time, outside of team practices. The benefits of traditional solo training are limited, especially in team sports where practicing against another player is best and no one else is present to control or manipulate a training dummy. Hence the need for a specialized training dummy in the context of solo practice.
Existing training dummies used in most sports create a low-quality practice environment and produce limited benefit to the player. Stationary dummies simply cannot simulate the actions of a live defensive player; and, as a result, they cannot create the physical—and the arguably even more important psychological—impact on the offensive player of being confronted by a hostile and powerful defender in a game situation. Even a portable dummy with some movable parts—like PROFENDER™, see www.theoriginalprofender.com—typically requires a skilled and able-bodied person to move the dummy into various positions and to manipulate its height. Traditional training dummies are unsatisfactory for team practice or for solo drills.
What is needed is a method and system which addresses these numerous and often complex training issues faced by players and coaches.